And Then Things Have Happened
by Eph
Summary: Strife and Drok'ti are back and kickin!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: 20th Century Fox (NOT ME!) owns all rights to Predator/Predator 2 and AvP. The characters and story are mine though. . .mine I tell you! MINE!

Strife heard the shriek and shot out of bed. She looked down at Drok'ti. The big lug was still sound asleep. Strife walked into the living room shaking her head and intent on finding out what the noise was. Her shins connected with something and she fell flat on her face.

"Zaz. . .you. . .big. . .thing."

She stood up again and walked to the front door. As she opened it she came face to face with a strange girl. Strife stumbled backwards and fell on her butt. The girl stalked forward and reached her hand out. Strife covered her face with her hands to protect herself. When nothing happened Strife looked up at the girl and realized the hand was there for Strife to take hold of so she could get on her feet again.

"Oh, hah hah."

Strife took hold of the girl's hand and the girl helped her up with a strength that was unnatural. Strife looked at the girl and cocked her head to the side.

"Um. . .who are you?"

"Just call me Lynx."

"Lynx? As in the comic artist?"

"That's me."

"But. . .you're on earth."

"On occasion. I like to travel."

"How did you get here? Why are you here?"

"There'll be time for that later . . . We have to get off this planet."

"What? Why?"

"I'll explain later."

"But, I can't just leave without telling Drok'ti that I'm leaving or where I'm going . . . Where am I going anyway?"

Seemingly on queue, Drok'ti walked in and looked at them.

"Strife . . . what's going on?"

"Apparently we have to leave."

"Quickly would be a good idea."

"We can't just leave."

Lynx sighed and put her hand on her forehead. Strife was suddenly standing on the edge of a cliff. She started to lose her balance. Lynx grabbed her arm and pulled her away from it. Drok'ti fell out of a tree and landed next to Strife.

"Sorry about that. . .I'm still a little new to this."

"What was that?"

"I folded us."

Drok'ti stood up and roared at Lynx. Strife put her hand on his arm to calm him.

"I said I was sorry. I'm getting the hang of it. . .sort of."

"You almost killed Strife."

"I'm not used to folding more than one person. She's fine."

"That isn't the point!"

"Then what is the point?"

Strife looked at Drok'ti. He didn't seem to know. Strife giggled a little and looked at Lynx.

"So why did we have to leave so quickly?"

"Because he was there looking for you."

Strife got a little creeped out.

"He, who?"

"You heard from him before. He calls himself Dash."

"I remember that. He emailed me. I thought he was just messing with me."

"He's a little more sinister than that."

"I don't like him already. Will he come after me again?"

"He'll be chasing you until he's dead or he gets what he wants from you."

"What does he want from me?"

"I. . .don't actually know. Most of my information I got from Gabriel, so naturally there are gaps."

"Gabriel? You know Gabriel?"

"Of course, he sent me. All demons on earth know each other."

"All demons? I thought Gabriel was the only one."

"No way. There are a lot of us on earth. We're a fairly large minority."

Strife laughed and nudged Drok'ti.

"Large minority."

She looked at Drok'ti to see if he got the joke and was laughing. He still seemed annoyed. She sighed and looked back at Lynx.

"So where are we?"

"We're in the 16th dimension."

"I didn't know there were 16 dimensions."

"There are a lot more than 16."

"Wow. This is so cool."

"As fun as standing around here chatting is, we should probably move somewhere more populated before something comes along and eats us."

"Ok."

Strife did a thumbs up as Lynx started walking off. Strife looked at Drok'ti.

"We're in another dimension! Isn't that cool?"

Drok'ti snorted and started following Lynx. Strife shrugged and followed after Drok'ti.

They walked for a while in silence. Strife tried to read Lynx's mind to see what she was thinking. Lynx cast a glance over her shoulder at Strife and grinned a little. Strife stopped trying to read Lynx's mind and blushed a little. Apparently demons know when you're reading their minds. Strife snickered and took hold of Drok'ti's hand. He looked down at her. She couldn't see the look on his face because he was, as usual, wearing his mask. She smiled at him and he looked away. She wished he wasn't so tense. They would be fine. She trusted Lynx. If Gabriel trusted Lynx with rescuing Strife, then Strife should trust Lynx with rescuing Strife. They came to a large wall and Lynx walked right through it. Strife stopped and cocked her head to the side.

"Um. . ."

Lynx's head poked out of the wall again.

"Oh, sorry. Here."

Lynx held out her hand to Strife. Strife was about to take her hand when Drok'ti snorted and grabbed Strife's arm.

"We'll just climb it."

Lynx shrugged and her head disappeared from view again. Strife looked up at Drok'ti.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Remember when she folded us here?"

"Well, that seems like it would be complicated. This is just walking through a wall."

Drok'ti put Strife on his back and started climbing the wall. Strife laid her head on his shoulder and smiled. Her knight in mesh and no pants. She giggled quietly. They got to the top of the wall and Strife looked down. Lynx was standing on the head of a strange looking animal. The animal stretched out its neck and Lynx was suddenly level with Drok'ti and Strife. Strife laughed as she climbed down off Drok'ti's back.

"That's cool. What is it?"

"I don't know. I've never been here before."

"Oh."

Strife stepped onto the animals head and Drok'ti stepped up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. He's acting so strange. Strife decided she would think about that later. The animal's head lowered to near ground level and they all jumped off. Strife looked at Lynx and cocked her head to the side.

"So what are we doing here?"

"This place should be under Dash's radar. You're going to stay here while I go and get more information on the situation."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Well. . .Dash has a lot of people working for him that would know what is going on. They just need a little persuasion and they'll become totally compliant."

"You gonna kill anyone?"

"It might happen."

"Aww. . .I wanna go."

"I'm not going to serve you on a platter to Dash. You need to stay here. I imagine you could find some people here to kill if you really wanted to."

Strife smiled.

"I like you're thinking."

"Well. . .I'll see ya soon."

Lynx disappeared and Strife looked at Drok'ti.

"So what do ya wanna do?"

He grunted.

"We could see if anyone around here has Clue!"

Drok'ti snorted and laughed a little. Strife smiled.

"That's better. It's just you and me now, lighten up."

Drok'ti patted Strife on the head. She smiled as he poked her in the stomach. She looked down the street and decided to investigate the area.


	2. Chapter 2

Drok'ti stayed right behind Strife as she walked down the street. He didn't like it here. It smelled strange, felt strange, and looked strange. Strife didn't seem to mind it however. He was lost in his thoughts about how they were going to get out of there when Strife stopped suddenly and he ran into her. He reached out quickly and grabbed her before she fell. She looked up at him and laughed.

"In a hurry big guy? Hah."

He wish he could be so relaxed and be able to joke and play with Strife, but something was wrong in this place.

"This place is really cool. I wonder what the locals are like. I haven't seen anyone since we got here."

That's what was so wrong with the place. The town was seemingly deserted. He heard a strange noise behind them and he whirled around and growled menacingly. He didn't have any of his weapons and that made him angry. Damn that demon girl for showing up out of nowhere and bringing him to this place without any of his weapons. At least he had remembered to put on his mask. He looked around to try to find the source of the noise. He looked at Strife to see if she had seen anything. She wasn't there anymore. He looked around in panic for a moment and saw her across the street staring at the door to one of the buildings. He walked over quickly.

"What is it?"

"I can't tell if this is blood or just paint."

Drok'ti watched as Strife leaned forward and sniffed at the door. She looked at him worriedly.

"It's definitely blood."

Her breath caught in her throat, she raised her hand and pointed over Drok'ti's shoulder.

"Drok'ti. . ."

He heard something breathing, heavily and hungrily, behind him. Strife started backing away. Drok'ti swung around and jumped backwards as the strange creature swiped at him. He just barely got out of range, but the claws of the beast still grazed his chest, however that wouldn't stop him from killing it. Drok'ti roared and reached for his knife. It wasn't there. He cursed the demon girl again and turned to face the creature unarmed. It was already going for Strife. Strife's wings burst out of her back and she flew up in the air and then landed on the roof of the building. Good girl, Drok'ti thought. The beast was already leaping for her again. Drok'ti tackled it from the side and they crashed to the ground.

"Drok'ti!"

He spotted another creature running at him from the side. He jumped up and forward to avoid it. Strife jumped down next to him. There was a loud roar from behind them and Lynx suddenly fell to the ground in front of them, landing in a crouch. The creatures stopped their advance and started to back away. Lynx was speaking in a strange language that gave Drok'ti the chills. The beasts stopped moving, frozen from fear, or the strange incantation Lynx was speaking, or something, Drok'ti didn't know. Lynx said one final word and the beasts took off running into the darkness. Lynx turned around and Drok'ti saw she was covered in blood. She had been killing.

"Lynx, what happened to you? You're. .. uh. .. Bleeding."

"Yeah, I know. I got ran through with a sword."

"What?"

"It's no big deal, I've had worse."

Drok'ti charged at Lynx and let out a roar as he punched her and sent her flying back. She hit a wall and scurried up a little bit higher.

"Come down here!"

"Why? You're going to kick my ass."

"Yes I am, now get down here."

"No."

"Now!"

"What the hell did I do?"

"You could have gotten us killed!"

Drok'ti was filled with rage. No one endangers Strife like that and gets away with it.

"You're both fine though."

"We could have died."

"But you didn't."

"You put us in this situation. You're supposed to be protecting Strife, but you serve her up to those. . .things."

"They really aren't that bad."

"They killed all the townspeople."

"The townspeople probably had it coming."

Drok'ti let out a roar and jumped at Lynx. He caught her foot and ripped her down from the wall. He threw her to the ground and knelt down and was about to punch her, but she rolled out of the way and in a flash was headed up the wall again. He caught her and flipped her around. He grabbed her by the throat and squeezed.

"There is nothing keeping me from killing you right now."

"Yes there is."

"What?"

"The fact that I'm immortal."

Lynx's foot struck out and hit Drok'ti mid-chest and sent him flying backwards. He hit the ground and skidded along it for a few feet. He growled and looked up at Lynx as she straightened her shirt and wiped the dirt off her pants. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked into Strife's face.

"Drok'ti, please don't be so angry. It scares me."

He stood up and looked down at Strife. He hugged her to him. He didn't want to scare Strife, but he wanted the demon girl dead. Immortal. Could she really be immortal? He doubted it. Someday he would find out how to kill her and he would do it.

Drok'ti felt agitated and worn out. Even an hour later he was angry with the demon girl for putting Strife in such danger. As a proud warrior he was meant for fighting, trained to hunt, to kill, and to survive. Strife was so small, not quite fragile, but vulnerable. She still did not have full understanding of her abilities and her mental state, on occasion, deteriorated to that of a small child.

Drok'ti looked up ahead at the demon girl and silently despised her. She turned her head and looked at him, eyes steely and cold. Drok'ti broke their gaze when he felt a twinge in his head. Damnable girl and her dark blood. He heard the demon girl growl and looked at her again to see if she was perhaps issuing a challenge. If that was the case he would gladly accept and kill her. Strife wouldn't be able to stop him because she knows the rules of the Yautja when one is challenged.

The demon girl seemed to be not entirely focused on him, but above his head. The demon girl roared and leapt at him. He ducked, but he realized that she wasn't even aiming for him. Drok'ti looked up and saw a strange machine hanging from a branch. The demon girl was hanging onto it ripping at it with her claws. Drok'ti thought it was a pathetic display. And she calls herself a demon. Pah.

The machine was doing more damage to the demon girl then she could ever hope to do to it. Drok'ti may not have to kill her after all. He could leave the machine to it. Of course he knew he would enjoy killing the demon girl. It was his kill, not the robots. He was about to act, but remembered he had to protect Strife.


	3. Chapter 3

Strife was standing there dumbly not knowing what was going on for a few minutes. It had all happened too fast and her brain was just now catching up with what she was actually seeing. Drok'ti was crouched on the ground below the tree. . . Ok. . .and Lynx was hanging in the tree by a robot. . .all right. . .and the robot was trying to kill Lynx. What!

Now was the time to decide what her course of action would be. She watched as the robot ripped Lynx's right hand off at the wrist and started going for her throat. Strife didn't have time to think before she acted. Spreading her wings out, and flying as fast as she could towards the robot, she went to save her friend.

Strife collided with the robot. That caused Lynx, the robot and herself to fall to the ground. They all tumbled together in one giant ball of legs, arms, and metal rods. Once Strife separated herself from the entanglement she shook her head and put her hand on her forehead and waited for the world to stop spinning.

"That was fun!"

She heard Drok'ti yell at her, but she was suddenly very busy dodging the spear the robot was jabbing and slashing at her. Drok'ti came out of nowhere and started grappling with the robot. Strife ran over and knelt down next to Lynx.

"Are you all right?"

"My hand is gone."

"I think it's over in that bush."

"Oh. . .oh well, it'll grow back anyway."

Lynx looked over at Drok'ti and then back at Strife.

"You might want to tell him to get away from that robot now."

Strife turned her head towards Drok'ti.

"Drok'ti! Lynx says you should get away from the robot!"

"Why?"

Strife turned back to Lynx.

"He wants to know why."

Lynx smiled and nodded.

"I can hear him. The robot is going to explode."

"Oh, ok. Wait, what!"

Strife jumped up and looked at Drok'ti and started running for him.

"The robot is going to go boom!"

She rammed into Drok'ti and knocked him off balance and they rolled into a thick clump of bushes. She was in the process of covering her ears when there was a loud boom and a wave of intense heat.

Strife stood up and looked around. She started to panic when she didn't see anyone, or anything except sand. She stood there for a moment trying to figure out what had happened. She looked at her clothes and saw they were slightly singed. In fact, she was still smoldering. She patted the burny bits on her clothes and took another look around. She saw something sticking out of the sand a few feet away from her. She walked over and saw that it was a foot. It was too small to be Drok'ti's foot. She looked down and saw that it wasn't hers either. Lynx must be stuck in the sand for some reason. Strife grabbed and pulled. It came out very easily.

"Oh that's why."

It was just a stump of a leg that ended at the knee. Strife recognized the boot as Lynx's.

"I'll bet she's looking for this. I should take it to her!"

She started humming her theme music and skipping as she went to search for the rest of Lynx. She skipped through the desert for a while humming and whistling on and off. She stopped at the edge of a pool of water and looked into it. She saw bubbles coming out of the water. She frowned for a moment.

"Water doesn't bubble on it's own."

She reached her hand in and felt a hand. She pulled and lynx came sputtering out of the water. Strife smiled.

"Found you."

"You sure did."

"Here, this is yours."

Strife handed Lynx her leg.

"Oh, thanks."

Lynx started washing it off. She got up and hopped to the bank of the pool. Strife watched her as she sat down and put her leg back together at the joint where it had come off. The skin started to grow back and fuse together.

"Wow. . .that is really cool."

Lynx looked at Strife and smiled.

"Um . . . Lynx . . . Where is Drok'ti?"

"Don't get mad at me. . .but I knocked him out."

"What?"

"I didn't want him freaking out if we got too separated so I hit him over the head with a rock."

Strife laughed a little bit. As much as she loved Drok'ti, she knew he would be mad. He gets mad too easily and it bums her out when he gets mad. Lynx looked at herself.

"Well, don't we just look like a couple of hobos. . ."

Strife looked down at herself and suddenly her clothes were back together and no longer showed any signs that they were ever burned.

"Wow. . .that's great!"

She looked at Lynx again. Lynx was in completely different clothes.

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know. I learned that when I was really young."

Lynx chuckled a little bit.

"Really really young."

Strife had a slight smile on her face, but she realized she didn't quite understand the joke.

"What's so funny?"

"Well. . .I'm still really young, at least in the life span of a demon."

"Really?"

"I'm still a fledgling. . ."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm pretty much a toddler. . ."

"Oh. But you seem older. . ."

"I know."

"Why would Gabriel send you if you're so young?"

Strife slapped her hands over her mouth.

"I'm so sorry. That was really mean."

Lynx raised her hand.

"No, it's fine. He sent me because he's the one responsible for training me now that I've been thrown out of my house."

"Thrown out?"

Lynx scratched the back of her head and grinned a little bit.

"In the world that I came from, if the gathering doesn't think you are worthy, or just doesn't like you, then they cast you out in hopes you will do something bad so they can hunt you down and destroy you."

"I thought you were immortal."

"I am. That's why they don't like me. I passed all their tests with ease and they started to think something was wrong with me. Something is wrong with me. I can't die. Most demons have a weakness of some sort, but I'm an anomaly. They said I was an abomination. . .but I don't listen to them anymore."

Strife started to follow Lynx past the pool towards a very sheer cliff. Strife started to think about what Lynx had been saying.

"So Gabriel is a demon."

"He certainly is."

"Can he die?"

"That's the thing."

Lynx started to climb the cliff and Strife climbed next to her.

"Gabriel found me right after I was cast out. He took me under his wing, so to speak, and started to teach me to use my powers. A few years later he divulged his secret to me. He is just like me. He can't die either. That is why he wasn't part of the gathering."

Strife giggled.

"Two peas in a pod."

"Exactly. So you don't have to worry, Gabriel will be around forever, as will I."

"So why didn't he come?"

"He really wanted me to meet you. He said I could learn a lot from you."

"Learn? From me?"

Strife's hand slipped, but Lynx reached out and grabbed her.

"Get on my back."

"I'm kinda heavy."

"Nonsense."

Strife crawled onto Lynx's back and clung to her.

"So tell me more about you."

Lynx laughed.

"What do you want to know?"

"What kind of powers you have."

"Oh."

Lynx grew silent. Strife didn't want to bother her because she seemed to be concentrating. Strife watched the way Lynx was climbing. She was digging her claws into the rock to keep hold. Strife's claws were pretty strong, but not strong enough to hold her body weight. Strife suddenly remembered her wings. She laughed and spread them out and started flapping. Lynx's claws were pulled out of the cliff side and they started to rise. Lynx laughed.

"Show off."

They got to the top of the cliff and Strife folded her wings up and let them slide into her back. They hit the ground and she was still on Lynx's back. Lynx walked over to where Drok'ti was lying. Strife slid off her back and knelt down next to Drok'ti. There was no blood around his head. She knew that Lynx wouldn't hurt Drok'ti. She put her hand on his shoulder and shook him a little.


	4. Chapter 4

"Drok'ti."

Drok'ti twitched a little. He felt the comforting sensation of Strife's hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"I was having the weirdest dream. We were kidnapped by this wretched demon girl and she kept nearly getting us killed."

He stopped talking and opened his eyes. He saw Strife's face and standing behind her was the demon girl. He growled.

"It's not a dream."

"Nope, we're out in the big wide unknown."

Drok'ti snorted and put his hand to the back of his head. It was suddenly throbbing.

"My head. . ."

"Must have been because of the explosion."

Drok'ti remembered the robot, remembered Strife knocking him into the bushes and that was about it. He snorted and looked at Strife, but she was looking at Lynx.

"So where are we now? A different planet? Different dimension?"

"Different dimension. I kind of overshot my original destination and we ended up here. . ."

Strife giggled and looked at Drok'ti. Drok'ti was glaring at Lynx with extreme intensity. He hoped the demon girl could feel it. Strife suddenly shoved Drok'ti playfully.

"Lighten up grumpy no-pants."

He snorted at her again and she sighed. He stood up and shook the dizziness from his head. Strife was standing next to him, but her focus was on Lynx. He didn't like this. Before that damn demon girl came along he had Strife all to himself, now her attention is split, and he doesn't want it to be.

"So where exactly is here?"

"Well, we're back in your dimension. . .but in Drok'ti's universe again."

"What?"

"Yeah. Eheh. Um, don't worry, I know Dash isn't here anymore. He's probably still in his castle trying to figure out what happened to all of his guards."

"Or he's sending out mercenaries to hunt us down."

Lynx looked at Drok'ti.

"Or that too."

Drok'ti growled for a moment, but he stopped when he felt Strife look up at him. Drok'ti put his hand on her shoulder and she leaned her head against his stomach. He squeezed her shoulder lovingly.

"Drok'ti. . .it's fine, I can handle a few mercenaries. They are no biggie."

The demon girl started walking off again. Strife took hold of Drok'ti's hand and they started, as always, following the demon girl.

"Drok'ti."

Drok'ti looked down at Strife.

"What?"

"What'cha thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Liar. Come on. Tell me."

"Why is it so important?"

"Because it just is."

Drok'ti sighed and squeezed Strife's hand.

"I'm just worrying about you."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think she's cut out to save you. I think she's going to get us both killed."

"I don't think so."

". . . . . ."

"I don't! I think she'll get us out of this."

Drok'ti snorted.

"She'll get us out of this by killing us."

Drok'ti watched as Strife shook her head.

"We always get out of things unscathed!"

Drok'ti looked down at Strife and snorted. He remembered how "unscathed" she had been after the run in with the FBI men."

". . .well. . .maybe not unscathed, but alive!"

Drok'ti fell silent. He didn't feel like talking anymore. He wanted his armor, his weapons. He glared at the back of the demon girl's head. She finally swung around and growled at him.

"All right! I'll go get them for you!"

She suddenly disappeared and Drok'ti stood there motionless. Strife looked up at him and giggled.

"What?"

"You just have a funny look on your face."

Drok'ti snorted. A few moments later Lynx appeared in front of him and dropped his armor and weapons at his feet. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him like she was agitated. Drok'ti growled slightly and started to get all of his gear on and in place. He didn't know why she couldn't just take them back to Lau'thalus. He wanted to go back home and go back to bed.

Once Drok'ti was situated they moved on. Strife was skipping and humming a few steps ahead of him. His head was still hurting slightly and her humming was just becoming an annoyance. Watching her head bob up and down wasn't helping him. He decided to check out the area they were in and noticed it was slightly mountainous with scraggly trees. On and on they walked.

He started getting a strange feeling and looked at the demon girl to see if she was acting strangely. If she could sense it even. He did doubt her abilities to sense danger. She was frozen in place staring hard at a rock. Drok'ti didn't like that. He put his hands on Strife's shoulders protectively and got ready for what was coming at them. He heard the sound of claws on rock and growled. The demon girl was crouched and tense. A huge creature jumped onto the rock and looked at Drok'ti and then at the demon girl.

Drok'ti roared a warning and stepped in front of Strife. The creature was paying him no mind. It seemed to be focused on the demon girl as it slowly climbed down from the rock. The demon girl was still crouched and totally still. The creature walked over and started sniffing her. It stopped and raised itself up on its hind legs and let out a roar. The demon girl leaped sideways before the creature could attack her. It sprang at her and caught her in its mouth. Drok'ti watched fascinated as the creature started shaking the demon girl. Blood started to spray everywhere. He was convinced the demon girl was going to die. He felt a slight pain in his arm and looked down at Strife. She was holding onto his wrist with her claws. He pulled his wrist away from her. She bolted away from him towards the demon girl.


	5. Chapter 5

Strife, once again, was on a mission to save Lynx and this made her feel special. A mere human helping a demon. It was spiffy! She collided with the weird monster thing and sent it rolling across the ground. Lynx fell out of the beasts mouth and landed in a crouch. Strife saw the blood pooling out of Lynx and cringed. Strife heard a growl and turned towards the source. The weird monster was looking at her. She hadn't thought of that. The monster leaped at her, but it stopped short. Strife saw that Lynx had grabbed one of its back legs and was dragging it away from her. She was suddenly lifted up over a massive greenish speckly shoulder. Drok'ti was carrying her. The problem was he was carrying her the wrong way.

"What about Lynx?"

"She can be a diversion while I get you out of here."

"What if she dies?"

"That isn't my problem."

"Drok'ti!"

"The only thing I care about is getting you out of here."

Strife started kicking and screaming in a futile effort to get out of Drok'ti's protective grip. She looked towards Lynx. The creature had her by the head. Strife's anger at Drok'ti increased as her view of Lynx dissipated.

Strife didn't know how long Drok'ti was walking for, but by the time he stopped it was dark. Strife was let down and she sat on a log and turned away from Drok'ti. She hadn't been this angry with him ever. Not even when he had left her on the evolution planet. She suddenly whirled around and looked at him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

He recoiled and then puffed up menacingly. Strife stood up.

"How dare you leave Lynx there to die! How could you do that? She's trying to help us and you let her die. I can't . . .I can't believe you. You have no heart!"

Strife spread her wings and started flying in the direction they had just came. She had to help Lynx if Lynx was still helpable. She saw the area they had been in and landed. The scent of blood was very strong. She covered her nose with her sleeve and walked around the rocks looking for any sign of Lynx.

Strife walked around a boulder and saw intestines. She frowned and knelt down. She looked closer at them. She poked at them.

"Lynx. . ."

She heard footsteps behind her. She didn't turn. Instead she held up the intestines.

"This is your fault. I'm not talking to you anymore."

She dropped the intestines and crossed her arms over her chest. Drok'ti lifted her up and put her on his back. She held on, but didn't say anything to him. She couldn't comprehend what had been going through Drok'ti's mind when he had left Lynx here to be reduced to a pile of guts. Strife felt tears running down her cheeks. She did nothing to stop them. Her favorite comic artist. Her new friend. She had just been betrayed by her best friend. She decided to go into nothing until her mind calmed down.

When she went back to reality the sun was starting to come up and she was seated on a rock. There were a few sparse bushes, a waterhole and a couple scrawny deer-like creatures drinking the water. Strife looked over at Drok'ti, he was sitting on the ground with his head leaning back against a rock, arms crossed over his chest. She couldn't tell if his eyes were open or closed. She turned away from him when she started to feel anger. It would be so easy to hit him over the head and leave him here. He had done it to Lynx, why couldn't it be done to him?

Strife put her hands over her face. What was she thinking? She wasn't like him. She loved him, she was just really mad at him.

Strife looked around some more. Her eyes landed on a foothill and she headed toward it. Once she was on the top she could see much farther. There was a city on the horizon. Her stomach growled and she realized it had been a couple days since she had eaten anything. She sighed and slid down the hill to wake up Drok'ti. She didn't wait for him to stand, just started walking away from him. He slowly stood up and began to follow her. Hours later the sun was directly overhead and it was boiling them. Strife had thought Lau'thalus was bad, but she now knew there were places hotter. The terrain started to change the closer they came to the destination. Strife could see trees and smiled. She would love to get out of the heat and into some nice shade.

The village came into view a few moments later. Strife could smell the aroma of something.

"Smells tasty."

She started walking faster. She neared the border of the town and saw that it was bustling with creatures she couldn't identify.

"More aliens."

She snickered to herself.

"Who's the alien here?"

She felt eyes on her and looked. A tall creature with metallic grey skin, that looked nothing like the majority of the other beings in the town, was staring at her. Strife thought it was probably male. He had a gigantic axe that he was holding next to his side. Strife walked over to him.

"Hello, where's the food?"

He looked at her strangely and pointed to his left. Strife smiled at him.

"Thank you."

She turned and walked towards the food, her stomach was having a fit now. Once she got to the stand where the food was she patted her pockets and realized that she didn't have any form of currency. She sighed and smacked herself on the forehead.

"Damn."

A 'woman' walked up next to her and scrutinized her for a moment. Strife felt like she was being picked apart slowly.

"Where do you come from?"

"A planet called Lau'thalus."

"So you live amongst the cruel ones."

"Cruel ones? What?"

"The hunter race."

Strife realized that the Yautja were rather cruel. They killed all the time, even people that try to help them. She realized that she hadn't heard Drok'ti behind her the entire time she had been in the town. Maybe that was a good thing. If these beings considered his kind to be bad, then Strife wouldn't want to bring him into their village.

"Yeah, I guess so. I didn't realize they were so bad. . .until recently."

The woman put her hand on Strife's shoulder.

"You look hungry and tired. I will take care of you."

Strife followed the woman down the road to a small hut formed with branches and mud. The woman motioned to a small table and Strife sat down in a chair. Strife realized that even though this was another planet, these beings were quite a bit like humans. She realized the Yautja, even though they would never admit it, were somewhat like humans. They used tools, lived in houses, built things, hunted. Strife sighed again. Thinking about that was making her sad. She started thinking about Lynx. Stupid Lynx having to go and be reduced to a pile of intestines and a puddle of blood.

"It wasn't her fault."

"What?"

"Sorry, just talking to myself."

"It's all right. Are you alone here?"

Strife didn't want to put the woman on edge, but she didn't want to lie. Strife did truly feel alone now since Drok'ti had ended up not being who she thought he was. He was supposed to be strong and brave, but. . .

"I am now."

"You can stay in the village. There is work if you need it. My name is Liartha, what is yours?"

"Strife."

"Strife, that's a strange name."

"It is."


	6. Chapter 6

Drok'ti had stopped dead when he realized the heat pattern the beings were giving off was all too familiar. He had turned on his cloaking device and ducked into the trees. 'What is that girl thinking?' The village was comprised of creatures that were an enemy to the Yautja. Ever since time began for the Yautja those creatures have been there to attack them. Drok'ti heard something behind him. He swung around and growled. Changing the vision in his mask he scanned the area for any threats. He saw nothing. He could sense it however. He was about to make another circle when a net fell on him. He roared for a moment, then something hit his head and he fell unconscious.

Awaking to a strange scraping noise Drok'ti jumped up and started to waver. He grabbed his head and put his hand against the wall to steady himself. He remembered the night Strife had found him. He still didn't know how she had managed to stop him from falling. He looked in the direction of the scraping noise and saw the creature that had killed that demon girl. Drok'ti at first thought it was a different one, but then he saw the heat pattern was identical. The creature was methodically scraping its claws down the side of the wall in the same spot. The creature turned to him and Drok'ti heard a low voice in his head.

'The walls aren't strong, they fall apart in time.'

Drok'ti nodded and reached for his shoulder cannon, but it was gone, all his weapons were. Drok'ti cursed the creatures and slammed his fist into the wall. He looked back over at the creature. He wanted to congratulate it on killing the demon girl, but didn't know how. The creature turned to him again.

'I didn't kill her.'

"What?"

'Powerful creature, tried to save me.'

"Is she not dead?"

'Not dead.'

Drok'ti snorted. Strife had to know. If she knew the demon girl was still alive then she wouldn't be mad at him anymore. He started scraping at the wall of his cell with his claws.

It must have been hours later when Drok'ti heard the creature break through the wall. Drok'ti watched as it disappeared through the hole. Drok'ti growled in frustration. He heard scraping on the other side of the wall and realized the monster was going to help him escape. A moment later the wall crumbled and Drok'ti was free. He climbed out and stood next to the monster.

"Thank you."

'Yes.'

The monster loped off into the trees and Drok'ti stood there for a moment. He had to get Strife and get her out of this place while she was still alive.

Nightfall came and Drok'ti started searching the village for Strife. He couldn't wait to find her so he could hold her in his arms again. Once he told her the demon girl wasn't dead she would forgive him and be her happy self again.

He was stalking past a hut when he recognized Strife's heat pattern emitting from it. He went to the window and saw Strife lying on a bed made from a pile of leaves, twigs and grass.

"Strife."

She didn't move. He was about to call out again when he sensed something behind him. He didn't have time to turn before he was hit with something.

Drok'ti opened his eyes. He was extremely agitated now. He had had enough of being hit over the head for the day. He tried to move, but his hands were tied behind him and his feet were also bound. He looked around and spotted someone seated with their back to him. He roared and struggled against the bonds.

"No use struggling. You're not getting out of those."

"Demon girl?"

"I have a name you know."

"Untie me right now!"

The demon girl turned around, she had an amused look on her face.

"You know. . . ."

She stood up and walked over to where Drok'ti was lying. Drok'ti growled at her.

" . . .the thing I really don't understand is where your animosity towards me is derived from. I've done nothing but try and help you every step of the way."

She knelt down in front of Drok'ti and stared at him. He was getting uncomfortable. He wanted her to either kill him or let him go.

"I saved you from Dash, I saved you from that robot, I even saved you from that monster that attacked us in the mountains, and yet. . .you didn't even think twice about leaving me there to die. I don't see how something so cruel and inhumane could possibly care for anything. I really don't believe you love Strife, I mean, how could a cold callous creature love anything?"

Drok'ti roared at the demon girl.

"Don't question my feelings!"

The demon girl leaned down in his face.

"Acting like a monster isn't going to change my mind."

She stood up and Drok'ti watched her walk to the other side of the cave. He was angry. He didn't like feeling angry. He usually didn't get angry. He tried freeing his hands again, but had no luck. He growled and turned his head. He saw something metallic near his stomach. It was a knife. The demon girl had accidentally left it there. He rolled over and picked it up in his hands. He quickly cut the ropes that kept him captive and jumped up. He roared a challenge to the demon girl. He heard her snicker.

"Go ahead Drok'ti. Kill me. As soon as I'm dead, so is all hope of getting Strife out of that village. Those people will kill you on sight now."

Drok'ti tightened his grip on the knife and started to walk towards the demon girl.


	7. Chapter 7

Strife felt fuzzy and tired. After a long day of working around the village she just wanted to sleep. She returned to Liartha's house and went straight into the extra room that had been designated for her. She laid down and, after kicking off her shoes and cuddling up to a pillow, fell asleep. Her dreams were troubled as they usually were without Drok'ti next to her and protecting her. Mostly she dreamed of the times that they had spent hunting, the happier, less stressful, times. There was a lot of stress involved in traveling around with a creature that was so tightly strung as a Yautja, but she wouldn't trade it for anything.

She woke up feeling like she had been running a marathon the day before. Liartha was standing in the doorway looking at her. Strife groggily sat up and stretched, but realized it was a bad idea when her body protested movement.

"It's time for breakfast."

Strife nodded and laid back down. Liartha cleared her throat and Strife sighed. She rolled herself off the bed and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Owie."

"You're acting as if you've never worked a day in your life."

"I'm just not used to digging irrigation ditches. I'm used to crawling around in vents and sneak attacking people."

Liartha looked bemused and a little uncomfortable. Strife laughed and scratched the back of her head.

"Only in a playful way, of course, heh. . ."

Liartha walked out of sight. Strife sighed with relief. She put her shoes on and went into the kitchen/dining area and sat down in a chair. Liartha set a plate of food down in front of Strife.

"Mmm, smells good, what is it?"

"Argon liver wrapped in intestines."

Strife stopped smiling and wrinkled up her nose. She had never been very fond of haggis. She scrutinized the dish carefully for a few moments waiting for something that she didn't know. The aroma was making her drool and her stomach yell at her to start shoveling it into her mouth so it could digest it for her.

"Thanks stomach."

Another strange look from Liartha convinced her to stop acting like the weirdo she was and just eat. She wouldn't know if it tasted bad unless she tried it. She took a bite and after consulting her taste buds, and coming to an agreement that it tasted lovely, she scarfed down the rest of it as if she only had a few moments to live. This wasn't the case, though, and after Liartha removed the plate and handed Strife the strange shovel-like tool she had become familiar with the previous day, Strife wished she didn't have the ability to eat food so fast. She let out a morose sigh and exited the house via the back door. The field stretched out for what seemed like miles and tugged at Strife's energy even before she had started digging. After another sigh and a short walk to where she had left off the day before, Strife got to digging.

About three hours into it she was startled out of whistling a lively digging tune she had come up wiith 2 hours before by a loud bark. She frowned and went through her memory bank. After revising the noise she realized it was a one word command. It came again and she looked at the source. A tall husky man was looking at her from the other side of a ditch. She looked behind her to make sure he was trying to communicate with her.

"After you're done here I have some things for you to do."

Strife scoffed at him under her breath. She was working for Liartha, not this red-face.

"Did you hear me?"

"I heard you, I'm just not going to respond to you. I answer to Liartha. If you don't like it go talk to her."

After a moment or two of souting meaningless sounds at her he turned around and headed towards Liartha's house.

"Insolence!"

Strife snickered and resumed whistling. She had a feeling that Liartha wouldn't condone his attempt to steal Strife away from her. The moments passed with nothing, then Strife heard a startled 'what?' come from the man. Liartha and the man appeared at the back door. They made their way towards Strife. She mostly ignored them until Liartha spoke to her.

"Strife, how would you like some help digging my ditches?"

"That would be nice."

"All right, then it's settled. Send your slave over here tomorrow. I wish to borrow him for the duration of the digging period."

"But I. . ."

"Thank you for your kind offer. It will not go unrewarded."

He mumbled intelligably for a second and then stomped off with his hands curled into fists. Strife looked at Liartha for a moment with a look of amusement on her face. That guy really had a temper and a problem with getting himself into things that he didn't have the mental power to argue himself out of.

"Who was that?"

"Don't mind him, that's just Augrin the slave trader."

"Slave trader?"

"Don't worry, I wont be selling you to him since you're not my slave."

"Right, I'm just helping around to earn my stay."

"Exactly."

Strife was all right with that idea. It meant she could eventually leave if her and Drok'ti were ever reunited. She missed him a lot and zoned out momentarily to think about him. She hoped he was all right wherever he was.

She thought that the sun would never set and continue to mock her and laugh. Finally it was time for dinner. Another strange looking dish. She didn't bother asking what it was this time, she just ate, washed up, and went to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

Drok'ti was agitated and had a bad headache from that damnable demon girl. He wondered if maybe he was going to have permanent head trauma from being bludgeoned so much lately. He was tired, hungry and had no way of getting Strife out of that village without killing many of the inhabitants. He didn't want to do that. Strife was already mad enough at him as it was. And he knew that charging in there with his plasma caster blazing wouldn't envoke any happiness in her. She didn't like pointless violence. She was a master hunter, but still had a code. She wouldn't kill anyone or anythign that didn't deserve it. She didn't know that those aliens she was staying with deserved it so he couldn't kill them until she knew. Maybe she would help him. Destroying a village of them would gain them honor amongst the clan.

If only she didn't consider the demon girl her friend, she would be speaking to him. He hated not hearing her talking or humming or whistling. If he could get close enough to call her to him then maybe things would be all right. He just didn't have any idea how to go about that.

He sat on a branch and watched her from a distance. She was digging a ditch and had been for hours now. It's a good thing that ther was no deadline since she was terribly slow at it. Someone needed to teach her to do that properly. He snorted and shook his head. He was always thinking things like that, but when it came down to it, Strife was fine the way she was. The reason he loved her is because she was so like herself and even after being stuck with him for so long and in the Yautja society, she hadn't changed a bit.

He sat there and moped for a bit. Strife went into the small dwelling she had been staying in for the last couple nights and Drok'ti decided to move to an area further from the village. He didn't like being so close to his races sworn enemy. He retired to a large tree far into the forest for the night. He had a hard time falling asleep. Everytime he would doze off he would think he felt Strife shift in his arms, but when he opened them she wasn't there. That is what was causing him to come out of his doze. He was used to Strife moving about, but not used to her not actually being there. She's still very alive, but haunting him all the same.

When he awoke the next day a small animal of some sort was hanging by its tail staring at him. He slowly sat up and stared back at the creature. It wasn't afraid of him, he could see that. It was very curious though, just like Strife. Drok'ti didn't know what to do. The animal was making him slightly uncomfortable as Strife had done during their initial meeting when he woke up in her living room after being attacked and nearly killed. The animal squeaked at him and dropped down on the branch Drok'ti was on.

"What?"

The animal squeaked again and hopped once or twice before settling down and mimicking Drok'ti. This was slightly entertaining for him, but not enough to elicit a laugh. He was still trying to figure out how he was going to get Strife out of the village and safely back to Lau'thalus, if that was indeed a safe place to go to. He wondered if the demon girl was telling the truth about that Dash character that was supposed to be such a threat. He figured she would have no reason to lie and her attitude was very blunt, even when it was cruel. If that were the case then in a way she had saved Strife's life. He didn't want to think about that. The demon girl had been nothing but a pain for him, so he put it out of his mind.

Another squeak. Drok'ti snorted and the creature seemed to snicker at him. He raised a brow ridge. He never understood why Strife had always found his snorting so funny. This funny little creature was winning his adoration slowly as it kept reminding him of Strife. He thought about the day that Strife had mentioned a snorting contest. That was a ridiculous idea. The creature moved a littler closer, so Drok'ti took the initiative and reached his hand out. The creature touched Drok'ti's finger with it's own and chortled at him. Drok'ti had an idea. He went back to the trees that outlined the farm Strife was staying at with the tree creature intow. He stopped and turned to look at the creature.

"See that girl in the field?"

The little beast squeaked.

"Take this to her."

Drok'ti pulled off his necklace and handed it to the creature.

"Then bring her back here with you."

The creature nodded and hopped off towards Strife. Drok'ti watched hopefully as the creature approached her. It relinquished the necklace and Strife looked around. Drok'ti could tell she didn't see him. His heart sank as the creature was startled and ran off into the tree on the opposite side when a man and a strange alien walked over to Strife. He watched as the taller slimmer grey colored alien picked up a digging tool and began working alongside Strife. The man barked a few words at the alien before walking into the village and out of sight. Drok'ti snarled and punched the tree. He had almost done it. He heard something coming through the trees to his left. When he looked he spotted a group of warriors from the village tracking something. He made himself scarce before they saw him and attacked.


	9. Chapter 9

Strife recognized the alien. It was the one that had been holding that huge axe, the one that had pointed the way to the food. He was now digging a ditch to her left. He seemed to be going a lot faster than her. She decided to make a game out of it. The fun lasted for a second or two before she realized it wasn't much of a game if he didn't know about it.

"So. . . what's your name?"

He seemed startled by her question.

"Regnus."

"Regnus? I'm Strife."

"I that a name or a personality trait?"

She laughed for a minute.

"I've heard that before, but it's funny because it stays funny."

He looked at her and half smiled. Strife had the feeling he wasn't used to smiling. Being a slave could do that to someone.

"How long have you been a slave for?"

"I was captured and sold into slavery a few months ago. Before that I was a warrior."

"Really? I'm a warrior too! Isn't that cool?"

"You're a warrior."

He cast a dubious look at Strife and she giggled.

"Well, yeah. Drok'ti and I would fly around in our spaceship and go on hunts and save planets and whatnot!"

Strife realized she was gesticulating wildly and giggled again. Sometimes her hands would fly all over the place when she got excited about something.

"Who is Drok'ti?"

"He's my friend. I suppose others consider us to be mates, but we haven't exactly gotten around to the whole mating thing yet. . ."

"Why is that?"

"Well. . .that's just scary."

"You find mating to be scary?"

"Uh huh. My mom always said 'it would open up a world of trouble if you ever had a child with anyone'. She would always emphasize 'you'."

"Your mother sounds like a cruel person"

"Well, yeah. Aren't all mothers like that though?"

"Of course not. My mother was a great teacher and a good friend to me and my siblings."

"Oh. . ."

Strife frowned and thought about all the mean things her mother had said to her. Her hands tightened around the digging tool and she clenched her teeth. That woman deserved endless torment. The kind of endless torment only someone like Strife could imagine in her mind. She went back to digging for a few minutes until she remembered the reason she had originally spoken to Regnus.

"I have an idea to make this more fun."

"How can slave labor be fun?"

"Anything can be fun ifyou make it into a game."

He seemed dubious about this as well. 'What a pessimist!' Strife thought.

"Ok, so we're stuck here digging, right?"

He nodded.

"Let's see who can dig the most ditches before sunset."

"I think we all know who is going to win."

Strife snickered.

"We'll see. Go!"

They started digging as fast as they both could. For some reason Strife's shorter stature helped her dig faster. She could use shorter strokes therefore doubling the amount of them. Strife and Regnus were laughing and having a good time when Liartha walked over.

"What's going on here?"

Strife looked at her and stopped laughing, but her smile wasn't going away any time soon.

"Just having a contest."

"Well if that makes you work harder, I don't have any problem with it."

Regnus was still digging away.

"So what's going on?"

"I was just wondering if you've seen your friend around."

Strife remembered Drok'ti's necklace in her pocket. She was a horrible liar, but she hadn't actually seen him, so she wouldn't have to lie.

"Not since I entered the village. Why?"

"No reason really. If you see him, let me know before you take off."

"Of course I will."

Liartha nodded and walked back across the field.

"She's up to something."

Strife looked at Regnus and realized he had been cheating the whole time she had been talking to Liartha. She decided that wasn't important at the moment. She didn't know what he meant by 'up to something'. What would Liartha be up to? She had just asked a question.

"What do you mean?"

"What race is Drok'ti?"

"He's a Yautja."

Regnus frowned and looked towards the house again.

"That must be why she's curious about him."

"Why would that matter?"

"The Yautja and the people of this planet are sworn enemies. Ever since day one they've been at odds. I don't want to alarm you, but I think they are setting up a trap for your friend."

"A trap?"

"If you do see him, I suggest you leave as quickly as possible. Make sure you're far away before they notice you've left."

"Are you saying that we're in danger?"

"You might not be, but I know your friend is. These people have been trying to enslave the Yautja for thousands of years."

Strife suddenly had a hard time swallowing. She thought that Liartha was her friend, but now she realized that wasn't so. She wanted to run away from here. Run and find Drok'ti and then he could comfort her and tell her it would be all right, that he would protect her. Of course, in this case, she might have to protect him. She hated scheming people. They were the kind of people she didn't feel bad about killing and mounting on her trophy wall. She thought of her home and missed it. Now she knew how Drok'ti must feel. Homesick.

At sunset she reluctantly went into the house and sat down to dinner with Liartha and her new friend Regnus. She tried as hard as she could to not let on that she knew what Liartha was plotting. She felt she did a good job. Strife thought that she would have a hard time falling asleep, but her body was so exhausted that she was asleep almost instantly.


	10. Chapter 10

Drok'ti awoke when something hit his midsection. He looked down to see that there was a severed and bloody leg of some animal bleeding on him. He jumped up and roared. His dismay became frustration and pure rage when he saw who had done this to him. Only a few feet away from him was the demon girl chewing on something. She had blood dripping down her chin. Something wasn't right about her appearance. She looked different, but he could tell by the feeling of anger he got when he looked at her, and the smug look on her face that it was still her. Her fingers were elongated, teeth pointed and long, her hair was bristling on its own accord and her eyes seemed to suck in all heat, they appeared to be black. She wiped the blood from her chin and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You'll need to eat something if we're going to take down that village tonight and get Strife out."

"I thought I killed you."

"You don't remember me saying that you can't kill me? Don't worry, I don't expect that brain of yours to be capable of retaining too much information. Eat that. We're going to get Strife soon and I don't want you holding me back."

Drok'ti growled at the demon girl. He was sick of the anger he was feeling. He wanted to go home and have fun with Strife. Or at least be done with this hell. He couldn't believe this demon girl. She had the gall to insult him and his race, and had the gall to not die when he killed her. He stood up and growled a challenge to her. She dared to roll her eyes at him.

"Do you want Strife back or not?"

He nodded.

"Then get over yourself."

Drok'ti felt himself sway and he had to brace himself against the wall so he didn't fall. He couldn't recall the last time he had eaten. He hesitantly picked up the leg. He took his mask off and turned his back on the demon girl to eat in peace. Or as much peace as could be had with her standing a few feet away from him.

He finished his meal, secured his mask, and stood up. The demon girl wasn't even there anymore. He looked around for her, but couldn't see her. He walked out of the cave he had been sleeping in and looked around. He saw her crouched on a rock looking down at the village.

"I think it would be a good idea for me to go in by myself so I can talk to Strife and tell her what is going on. She needs to know that these people deserve to die. And if she sees that I'm ok she wont be as mad at you."

Drok'ti snorted. He was surprised to hear that the demon girl thought of these people as enemies as well and didn't wish for Strife to be angry. That wasn't going to change the fact that he hated the demon girl more than anything. He would live for a long time and he could hold grudges for a long time.

"If something goes wrong and we can't leave the village, then you're going to do everything you can to rescue Strife."

"Why is she so important to you?"

"Maybe I'll tell you about it later, but right now I have to get going."

She hopped off the rock and plummeted about 80 feet to the bottom of the ravine she had just been overlooking. Drok'ti watched her run along the side of the cliff for a few minutes then she ran out of sight. He would have to find a different way down.

After descending the cliff in a sane and not so reckless way, Drok'ti made his way to the trees that bordered the farm he knew Strife was at. He crouched on a branch and waited for something. The demon girl's strange use of language was bothering him. She had said to save Strife, didn't mention anything about saving her if something went bad. Was it because she couldn't die? Because she knew he would never lift a finger to help her? Or because she only cared about Strife's well being? Drok'ti decided to just let that go. He hoped that the demon girl would be lost during this and he and Strife could get back to Lau'thalus. In truth, they had no way off this planet. Anything he could have used to communicate with the clan was back at home where he had left it in his hunting bag as he did when he wasn't using it. He didn't know where they would be able to get a spacecraft. This village seemed to be too small to support a spaceport. That is something he could worry about when he was reunited with Strife.

The demon girl came into view a moment later. She was calmly walking towards the dwelling. A woman stepped out and met her halfway up the walkway. Drok'ti watched, but he could not hear what was being said. The demon girl remained calm throughout the whole conversation. Strife walked out of the house a few minutes later. She trotted over to Lynx and hugged her. Drok'ti wanted her to be that happy to see him. The demon girl was invited inside and that's when Drok'ti was no longer involved. He would just have to wait. He hated that. A good hunter is always patient, but he wasn't hunting, he was trying to save the love of his life.

The sun set and still no movement from the house. Drok'ti closed his eyes and dozed off.

He woke up to someone shaking him violently.

"Drok'ti! Get up! They know you're here! We have to get the fuck out!"

He sat straight up and roared at the demon girl. He stopped short when he saw Strife standing a few feet away with her arms wrapped around herself like something bad had happened to her. The demon girl shoved him off the branch he was lying on and he tumbled out of the tree. The demon girl and Strife hopped down after him.

"Good fucking job, falling asleep!"

"What happened?"

"We don't have time for that right now. We have to run."

Drok'ti could suddenly hear the roar of the villagers and the sound of footsteps. He followed the demon girl and Strife through the forest away from the bloodthirsty villagers.

"What did you do to make them so angry?"

The demon girl snarled at him and started running faster. They were running faster than they should have been and before long they all ran straight off a cliff. Drok'ti felt the demon girls claws in his arm and then a wave of dizziness. He had no choice but to close his eyes.

When he opened them again he regretted it. He growled as he pulled his body out of a snowdrift.

"Oh shit."

"Where the hell are we?"

"I'm not sure Drok'ti, but at least we aren't splattered."

Strife giggled somewhere to his left. He looked down and saw her head sticking out of a snowdrift on one side and her feet sticking out of the other. Drok'ti's hands and feet were already hurting from the cold and he was feeling the lethargy kicking in. If he didn't get out of the cold soon, he was most likely going to die.


	11. Chapter 11

"This is kind of burr."

Drok'ti pulled Strife out and started to dust the snow off her. She looked over at Lynx and got a devious thought. She picked up a clump of snow and threw it as hard as she could. Lynx lifted her arm and blocked it effortlessly. Strife laughed and threw one at Drok'ti. It hit him in the back of his head and he roared at her. She frowned and sighed.

She looked at Drok'ti and noticed he was slightly hunched over as if he were about to attack. Lynx was looking at him like he was an idiot. She held her hand out and Strife saw a flame-like substance float towards Drok'ti. As soon as it made contact with his chest it enveloped him and then sunk into his skin. He had been ready to let out a roar, but Strife had a feeling he wasn't so inclined to do that now.

"What did you do to me demon girl?"

"Yautja's get weak in the cold. I know that, so I did a little bit of magic and now cold wont effect you."

"We don't get weak in the cold."

Lynx held up her hand with her palm facing Drok'ti and closed her eyes.

"Sorry, my mistake, you get weaker than you already are."

Drok'ti roared at her and stomped a foot on the ground. Strife rolled her eyes and meandered off elsewhere while Drok'ti made an attempt to stare down Lynx. Strife was getting exceedingly weary of the ongoing dispute between them. She still didn't know exactly how it all had been started. She couldn't see a happy end to it either. Drok'ti could be a real butthead and Lynx had that stupid demon stubbornness. Strife stopped in her tracks and frowned. That wasn't right. She looked back at the two people she cared most about in the world. She had disappointed herself by thinking those things about them. It was way out of left field and made her uncomfortable.

It seemed to her that her feelings weren't under her control. She was getting agitated even though that rarely happened. She sat own on an ice covered rock and closed her eyes. She took a few deep breaths and could feel a faint vibration. Something in the rock was emitting a negative force. She opened her eyes and jumped up off the rock. She looked at it like it could attack her at any moment. She shuffled backwards, still watching the rock, and made her way over to Lynx and Drok'ti who luckily hadn't begun to rip each other apart as of yet. It was on the verge though.

"Hey. . .wait!"

She hobbled over awkwardly, trying to get to them fast, but still keeping an eye on that rock. She stopped in the middle of them and put her hands on Drok'ti's chest.

"We need to go."

"Why?"

"This place has bad vibrations, that's why you're both so angry."

"I'm angry that this freakish abomination is still alive after going to Lau'thalus uninvited and kidnapped us."

"Oh yeah, because I only saved your wretched life."

Drok'ti pushed Strife aside with ease. She didn't like being so small sometimes. She tried to distract him with one of her wings. She flapped it in his face for a moment before he stepped out of range and started circling Lynx.

"Don't interfere Strife. I have to rid us of the demon girl before she gets us killed. She has to die."

"Don't!"

Lynx dove for Drok'ti's legs and knocked him down with ease. He tried to get back up, but she put a foot under his chin and forced his head to be arched back unnaturally. Strife tried to pull Lynx away, but she wouldn't budge. At least Lynx didn't try to throw her off, she knew that would be bad for her.

"Damnit you two! You fucking suck! I hope you do kill each other!"

Strife was about to take off and fly as far away from them as she could get when she heard a roar and had to look back. The scenery had changed from snow to tropical and Drok'ti was no longer being held down by Lynx. He was standing at the ready to attack, but lynx was nowhere to be seen. Strife frowned.

A moment later she heard a roar coming through the trees.

"Fuck you Drok'ti! You're on your own now!"

It stopped almost as soon as it started, but Strife had recognized Lynx' voice. That was a cool trick. Srife looked over at Drok'ti and folded her arms over her chest.

"Happy now? We don't know where we are, and Lynx is gone. Good job."

Something big and black fell on Drok'ti's head a moment later and knocked him out cold. Strife trotted over and realized what it was. Drok'ti's trophy bag. She opened it up and started rummaging through it, completely ignoring Drok'ti. Drok'ti's armor was in there along with all his weapons, Strife's kict-pa and her goggles were in there as well.

"Thanks Lynx!"

She put on her kict-pa and sat there for a moment. She got bored again and rummaged through the bag some more. Her hand touched something small and square. She put her hand around it and pulled it out. It was her electronic notepad. She smiled and opened it up. She looked through it for at least 20 minutes. She looked over at Drok'ti, he was still lying there completely still. He had been stirring on a couple occasions, but then nothing had happened.

An hour later Strife was so immersed in what she was doing that when Drok'ti sat up she nearly screamed. After a moment of fumbling around trying to regain a good hold on her notepad, she grabbed it and closed it. She glared at Drok'ti and sighed audibly.

"Finally. Took you long enough to wake up."

"What happened?"

"Your trophy bag fell on your head and knocked you out."

"My trophy bag? What was in it?"

"All our important stuff."

"That doesn't mean much coming from you."

Strife glared at Drok'ti for a few moments. He finished putting his mask on and looked at Strife.

"What's your problem?"

Strife roared and threw her notepad at his face as hard as she could. It glanced off the side of his mask, hit a rock and shattered.

"You're a butt hole!"

Strife spread her wings and took off towards the sun so Drok'ti would lose sight of her quickly. She was going to give him some time to pull his head out of his ass while she went to look for Lynx. She had a feeling Lynx wouldn't really abandon them.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Ok so things are going to be getting pretty interesting from here on out. . .I thought up a really messed up twist that I hope you all will enjoy, but if I get to the end and you aren't happy with it I will write an alternate ending if I get enough votes for it. So here we go. . .

Drok'ti watched Strife for as long as he could until her silhouette disappeared into the sun. His face slowly contorted into a frown behind the concealment of his mask. He wasn't seeing heat patterns anymore. He was seeing light refractions and in color. He knew right away this was the demon girls doing. It discomforted him to ponder what else she had changed besides this and his cold tolerance. It perturbed him that he hadn't noticed this change in him until now.

If he hadn't been so involved in his concerns with his vision problems he might have noticed what was watching him from the trees. He heard movement, but before he could fully turn around to face his attacker something stung his neck and he fell unconscious.

It could have been weeks, months or mere hours that he was out. When he came around he was disoriented and the stone floor was cold on his abdomen, but it didn't hurt him as it would have in the past.

"I see our prodigal daughter has made you nearly impervious to anything we could do to you."

At the sound of a voice Drok'ti turned his head and growled. He did not feel he had the strength to move yet so he laid there growling and pathetic. His throat was dry, but he managed to speak.

"Who are you?"

"You may have heard of me, my name is Dash."

Drok'ti did recognize the name and this time his growl had a little more force.

"I was expecting her to imbue you with a few minor protection charms, but this. . ."

He held up a stack of papers and started paging through them one at a time. Drok'ti could see through the paper slightly, but not enough to discern the figures that Dash was looking at.

"This is amazing. I wasn't aware our girl had reached this level of power. Almost rewriting a creatures full genetic code. . ."

He tossed the papers on the desk to his right and looked at a man with long dark hair and a goatee.

"Our girl seems to be realizing her potential, eh Hanz?"

"What do you mean. . .by. . .'your girl'?"

Dash turned back to Drok'ti and grinned.

"The fair maiden Xen is my creation. One of my greatest and most disappointing. . She altered her genetic code and gave herself freewill. I hadn't planned for it, and alas, she turned against me. Oh, but you're confused. You know her as 'Lynx'.

Drok'ti growled again and managed to sit up. He almost managed to stand, but dropped to one knee and resigned himself to that position. He wanted to tear everyone apart starting with this bastard that was responsible for everything he hated, and ending with that demon girl as she was a construct of his new enemy.

"She wasn't quite clever enough though. She is still following my programming. . .she just doesn't realize it."

Drok'ti glared at Dash.

"You seem like you don't believe me. Well. . .she delivered you to me."

Drok'ti jumped up and ran at the bars of his enclosure only to collide with them full force and to be nearly knocked down again. He grabbed the bars hard and roared in Dash's face. He didn't seem too threatened by this, but amused.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"You aren't in any position to make such a promise."

Dash turned away from the bars and began to leave the room.

"Let's go Hanz. Strife should be nearing the ambush now. We should be punctual. I don't want to be late meeting my future mistress."

The lights went out and Drok'ti was left, growling pitifully, in the darkness was both new and ominous to him.


	13. Chapter 13

Strife had been frolicking down the street for some time now and her legs were getting a little tired. She leaned against a building and took a breather. She had her eyes closed against the glaring sun when a shadow fell across her. She opened one eye and looked straight ahead, but then had to slowly crane her neck in order to find the shadow person's face.

"Hi."

"Hello. Are you all right?"

Strife giggled nervously and ran a hand through her hair.

"Yeah, I'm fine. . .really. I was just resting here for a moment."

"You sure? You seem a little lost."

"Lost? Of course I am, but that doesn't really bother me."

He smiled and that made Strife smile.

"If you're hungry or tired I know of a place you could rest and get some food."

"Food? I really like food."

"Some people seem to not be able to live without it."

Strife laughed and clapped her hands in front of her.

"OK! Off to magical food land!"

She spun around and pointed in a random direction. The man took her by the wrist, spun her the other way so she was pointing in the opposite direction.

"It's that way."

"That's what I meant."

Strife started skipping alongside the tall man that had just become her new friend. He started humming something and Strife was humming along soon.

"You're a fast learner."

"It comes with mental illness, I suppose."

"Mental illness?"

"Yeah, I'm insane. Drok'ti tells me I am all the time. I'm crazy, crazy, crazy."

"I wouldn't say you're crazy. Just unique. Being unique truly is a gift."

Strife stopped skipping and the man stopped and looked at her. Her nose was wrinkled up and she had her head cocked to the side. She thought carefully about what she was going to say and then decided it would be ok to say it.

"That was really nice. You're not as grumpy as Drok'ti."

"Who is this Drok'ti character anyway? And why does he say mean things to you?"

"It's not that he's mean. He just doesn't think before words come out of his mouth. I've learned to accept that about him. We're sort of kind of married."

"Are you?"

"In a way I guess. I've never gotten him to admit to it, but one day I'll crack him."

"I think that you should have someone that could appreciate you and voice how he feels."

Strife frowned and looked at the ground.

"I don't want you to talk about that anymore."

"I'm sorry if I offended you. Really. I'll stop."

Strife resumed walking and humming the tune that the man had been humming before.

"What is your name?"

"Strife."

"Strife, huh? That's cute. I'm Ravenwood."

"Ravenwood?"

Strife thought about that name for a few minutes and decided that it was one of her new favorite names other than 'Drok'ti' and 'Lynx'.

"Yep. That's a good name."

"I'm glad you approve."

They entered a forest and Strife looked around with wonder.

"These trees are really weird."

"How so?"

"I don't know. . ."

Strife tried to think of a reason all the way to the tree line, but her mind seemed to be cloudy. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a towering building.

"Wow, what's that?"

"It's the fortress. That's where we are headed."

"It's big."

"A lot of people live in it."

As they got closer to the fortress Strife got a feeling of something not being exactly right. At first she dismissed it as hunger and anxiety, but the more it grew the more she began to think about it. What was causing the feeling? Was it the building, what was waiting inside the building, or was it that the man she was walking next to seemed too pretty to be real. Maybe it was the fact that her surroundings seemed to be translucent in her peripheral vision.

Strife cautiously stepped through the huge double doors and looked around. No one was in the general vicinity other then her and her companion. She wondered if this was a trap. If she got herself into trouble Drok'ti would be so mad at her.

"We'll take the lift."

"Um. . .Ok."

They stepped into an elevator and Strife almost giggled at the feeling in her stomach, but thought about the situation first. Now was the time to pay careful attention, not to indulge in silly things. The elevator stopped and the doors slid open to reveal an empty corridor. Ravenwood had said a lot of people live in this fortress, but so far Strife hadn't seen anyone else. That made her a little nervous.

Ravenwood stepped out of the elevator and motioned for her to follow him. The hallway made a slight turn and ended abruptly. There was a doorknob, but the door seemed to be missing. Ravenwood pushed the knob in and the door slid open. Strife peered into the room and saw 3 people sitting at a table playing cards.

"Well, took you long enough."

One of them turned around and Strife saw that it was Lynx.

"Lynx! What are you doing here?"

"Just hanging out. What are you doing here?"

"Ravenwood brought me here."

"Ravenwood?"

Lynx let out a malicious laugh that was totally unlike her and looked at Ravenwood.

"That's the name you came up with, Dash? It's a little weird, don't you think?"

"Dash?"

Strife's heart started to palpitate and she began to back away but there was a man standing behind her suddenly and she was trapped. He grabbed her arms and pushed her into the room.

"Lynx, why are you here with him?"

"Why are you talking to me like we're friends?"

Strife's legs turned to rubber and she fell on her knees. She looked at Lynx like she was growing another head.

"But, you said you were going to protect me from him. . ."

"When did I say that? I don't remember that. I remember planning on luring you and your yautja friend into Dash's trap. That seems a lot more like what I would do."

"Drok'ti. . .where is he?"

"You might see him alive again, maybe. . ."

Strife dropped to the ground and started to cry. In this state it was easy for them to carry her into a room and lock her in a cage. Once they were gone she wiped the tears from her eye sockets and took a shaky breath. She vowed to get revenge on Lynx and Dash for conspiring against her and Drok'ti.


	14. Chapter 14

Drok'ti opened his eyes and had to squint against the bright light that invaded his eyes and seemed to stab into his brain. He sat up and looked around trying to remember what had happened to him and to establish his location. It took him a few minutes to remember what had transpired. Clarity came to him and he stood up and growled at the empty room. He had to get out of here and save Strife. She was no doubt in a whole lot of trouble by now. He got so frustrated that she couldn't take care of herself in these situations. Why did he have to baby sit her all the damned time? And why did the demon girl have to get involved? She exacerbated Strife's already frustrating condition.

Drok'ti managed to stand up and, after wavering for a moment, managed to keep his feet without needing to brace himself against the wall. He looked around the cell he was in for a couple minutes and began to formulate a plan. He was interrupted when the door opened and the demon girl scurried in. He growled at her and flared his mandibles.

"You do seem like a pain."

Drok'ti stopped growling and looked at the demon girl. She didn't sound the same at all and something about the way this girl held herself. She was a killer, calm and collected. The demon girl was no such things. This wasn't even her.

"That doesn't matter though. You will behave or I'll hurt you."

"I can handle pain."

"Who said it would be physical?"

Drok'ti scoffed and looked at the girl that resembled his foe.

"You think you can hurt me in any other way?"

"Strife might accidentally die."

Drok'ti's attention was snapped back to her.

"Your master would kill you."

"I don't care. If that's the price I have to pay to cause him grief, then so be it."

"Why do you wish to hurt him?"

"Because that's how I am. I want everyone to suffer. Everyone deserves to suffer."

The door opened once again and a man walked in. He had a gun in one hand and a radio in the other.

"Oh, Mephala, you're already here."

"Yeah."

"Good. Then we can get started sooner. Dash wants to know if there is any way to kill this creature now that Xen has seemingly fortified him against everything. It's almost as if she wishes him to live forever."

"Xen, that. . .failure."

The conversation between them faded out as Drok'ti debated those words in his head. The demon girl. . .did she really turn him into an immortal being? Why would she do that? She has never caused him nothing but trouble, they haven't gotten along since the moment they met. More than once they were going to kill each other. Now his death might be impossible because of his nemesis. The door to his cell suddenly opened and his attention was brought back to reality. Mephala and the man with the gun looked at him for a moment.

"All right. This will go better if you just cooperate with us. Step out of the cell calmly."

Drok'ti decided to let this play out for a moment, at least until he felt he could gain control over the situation. He stepped out and looked at them blankly.

"Now we're going to go for a walk. Don't try anything or I'll let Mephala tear you apart."

The door opened and Drok'ti stepped through it, then looked around.

"To your left."

Drok'ti turned to his left and took a few steps. The demon girl came around the corner just that moment. He frowned and looked over his shoulder at the others.

"D, is that you?"

The girl bared her teeth at Mephala, then the man and leaned against the wall.

"Keep going Yautja."

"So, D, are you going to help us out or just stand there and sulk?"

She didn't say anything, but kept glaring at no one in particular.

"I just can't believe Dash keeps making you all. None of you have ever done anything constructive."

There was a choked gasp and then a thud. Drok'ti turned around and watched as a pool of blood spread around the mans body. He looked at Mephala and frowned.

"What?"

"Lynx told us to help you."

"Lynx? Where is she?"

"She's going to help Strife right now."

The demeanor of the two demon girls had totally changed and now Drok'ti could see Lynx's influence on them. It was unnerving.

"Come on. We have to go meet up with her and you and Strife have to get out of here before this place is destroyed."

"Destroyed? What are you talking about?"

"Lynx wants to get rid of the lab so Dash can't clone her anymore."

"Not to mention she wants to get rid of Dash."

"Did he really create her?"

"Yes. She was supposed to be the only one, but Dash became obsessed with her design when she went rogue. He tried over and over again to make a perfect design, but he was never happy with any of us."

Drok'ti thought of this as total madness. Why would you continue to make something if it failed in the past? It was wrong to toy with the secret of life as well. Drok'ti followed the two clones to a staircase and then began to walk up.

"Lynx is getting close to Strife. We're running out of time, we have to hurry."


End file.
